 Al Qaeda was characterised at a congressional hearing on Thursday as a movement or an ideology rather than an organisation.
| Let us pause in the important business of killing the bastards to quibble over words... |
This was stated by Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the house sub-committee on international terrorism and non-proliferation, in his introductory remarks at a hearing of his subcommittee. Among those who testified was Arnaud de Borchgrave, who in the past has claimed that Osama Bin Laden is living in Peshawar. A follow-up hearing will take place later this year. Royce said, âThe trans-national terrorist threat facing the US is rapidly evolving. Since 9/11, as a result of unrelenting US military pressure, Al Qaeda has had to drastically reconfigure. Many now characterise Al Qaeda as a âmovementâ or âideologyâ, rather than a formal organisation. Some have even described the loose alliance of extremist networks targeting us as a âglobalised insurgencyâ. Some have suggested that US counter-terrorism strategy does not match this evolving threat.â
| U.S. counter-terrorism strategy has been evolving. I'll admit that it seems to have lost its focus at times. |
The Republican from California said that while the US has had success in dismantling the formal Al Qaeda network, not enough attention has been paid to countering the ideology fuelling this âmovementâ. He feared that radicalism is spreading throughout Africa and Central Asia. Then there are those who point at the lack of a sharp strategy along the lines of the âcontainmentâ doctrine that guided the US during the Cold War. The administration, he noted, has begun a comprehensive review of its counter-terrorism strategy with the intention of updating its National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, released in 2003.
| I'd suggest killing them in droves, myself, without mercy and without quarter. Instead, we've been agonizing over the accomodations at Guantanamo... |
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